Humility and Thankfulness Go Hand in Hand

At its center, thankfulness is the overflow of a humble heart, just as complaining is the overflow of a proud heart. Proud people think they deserve everything they have and even think they should have more. But humble people realize they deserve nothing and are therefore extremely thankful for all that God has done for them.

Proud people think they are entitled to things they have not worked for. They are jealous of other people’s blessings and even resent them for being blessed. I often say, “Don’t be jealous of what someone else has if you don’t want to do what they did to get it.”

The truth is, complaining is the fruit of a proud heart. When we complain, it means that we think we deserve better than our circumstances have given us. God is happy to help us in any difficulty, but His Word states that if we humble ourselves “under God’s mighty hand,” He will lift us up in due time (1 Peter 5:6). The humble get the help, not the proud.

Those of us who have endured times of need in our lives and have had to do with less are usually very thankful when we experience increase. I know I am. I recall needing to shop at garage sales for six years and being excited and thankful when I found a pair of new tennis shoes for one of my children for $2.

I also remember the early days of our ministry, when we traveled to speaking engagements in an old van with bald tires and rusty wheel wells, which we purchased for $1,600. In those days, we couldn’t afford to stay in hotels after speaking engagements, so we headed home. When Dave became too tired to drive, we parked in parking lots of fast-food restaurants so he could sleep for a while.

I am so thankful now that when we hold conferences or do speaking engagements we can actually stay in hotels. Occasionally, I find myself complaining about a hotel room, but humility would have me remember when there was no money for hotel rooms at all and remind me to be thankful for what I have.

You see, sometimes we are thankful out of the overflow of our hearts, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves to be thankful by looking back at how life used to be compared to how it is now. We don’t want to let what was once a blessing to us become an expectation and a right. Let’s always thank God for His goodness and remember with grateful hearts all He has done for us.

_{Adapted from the book The Power of Thank You by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2022 by Joyce Meyer. Published by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.}